David Beckham has fanned the flames in his row with LA Galaxy's fans by admitting he is confident he'll be back at AC Milan next season. "I hope to return to play for Milan," Beckham said. "They have remained in my heart and honestly I am confident I will greet them again in November."

The England midfielder had a bust up with supporters in Los Angeles this week during a friendly with the Italian giants, with which he spent six months on loan last season. Stewards held Beckham back after he tried to get to a section of Galaxy supporters who were abusing him.

Tottenham and Chelsea have also apparently expressed interest in Beckham. But Milan say the financial implications will bar a move as early as the one Beckham imagines. "There's no possibility for him to come sooner,'' Adriano Galliani, Milan's vice president, said. "David knows that the doors of Milanello are always open for him, his lawyers also know that. I hope he returns in January, but before then he won't because that's when the market reopens even though he finishes there at the end of November. There are insurmountable financial obstacles. The most likely hypothesis is that Beckham plays for us from January until the end of the season and then returns to America without all the fuss that happened last March. Before January there's no possibility."